Google to mark all HTTP website as “Not Secured” by July

Today, Google announced an innovation that would help users understand website with HTTP connections are “Not secured”, this will be indicated right in the address bar of its Chrome browser, the initiative has been planned to be implemented by July 2018.

HTTPS which is the secured version of the HTTP protocol which is considered as a good measure to decrease the risk of users being vulnerable to content injection which can result in eavesdropping, man-in-the-middle attacks, and other data modification by malicious attacks. Data is kept secure from third parties, and users can be more confident they are communicating with the hack-proof website.

Based on observations, Google has been moving the web towards HTTPS connection type for years, but it accelerated its efforts last year by making changes to Chrome’s user interface. Chrome 56, released in January 2017, started marking HTTP web pages that uses passwords or credit cards as “Not secure.” Chrome 62, released in October 2017, started marking HTTP sites with entered data and all HTTP sites viewed in Incognito mode as “Not secure.”

As a result, over 78 percent of Chrome traffic on both Chrome OS and Mac are now HTTPS, while 68 percent of Chrome traffic on Android and Windows is also HTTPS. But Google is not stopping there.

With the release of Chrome 68 in July 2018, here is how HTTP sites will look like in the address bar:

Chrome’s new interface will help users understand that all HTTP sites are not secure, and continue to move the web towards a secure HTTPS web by default. HTTPS is easier and cheaper than ever before, and it unlocks both performance improvements and powerful new features that are too sensitive for HTTP.”

The plan was always to mark all HTTP sites as “Not secure.” Eventually, Google will change the icon beside the “Not secure” label and make the text red to further emphasize you should not trust HTTP sites.

Google also announced today that the latest version of Lighthouse, its automated tool for improving web pages, now features mixed content audits to help developers migrate their sites to HTTPS. The new audit shows developers which resources a site loads using HTTP and which ones can be upgraded to HTTPS simply by changing the subresource reference to the HTTPS version.

As a young entrepreneur and a webmaster in Nigeria, I love technology! As a result, and to earnestly contribute to tech awareness within individuals, I find the need to give digital-based insight of the technology world today, hence, making individuals well tech rounded and get the need to acquire technical skills.